by Nick Holt
World Cup Heroes No.3
Leônidas da Silva (1913–2004)
Brazil
Leônidas was fit again for the third-place match and showed what might have been with another two goals as Brazil fought back from 2–0 down to beat Sweden 4–2.
Leônidas made his name in Brazil as a youngster playing for the unfashionable Bonsucesso team on the outskirts of Rio. He received an international call-up before he was twenty and scored twice against Uruguay, earning a handsome move to Peñarol. He flitted between clubs in those early days before settling at Flamengo for a six-year stint.
During this time he lit up the 1938 World Cup, and finished as the competition’s top scorer with seven goals in four matches (eight in five if you add in the game from 1934). In 1942 he moved to São Paulo and was still there when he retired in 1950. He worked as a radio commentator in his middle years, but struggled with Alzheimer’s before he finally died in 2004, aged ninety.
Pre-war football footage is very rare, so we only have newspaper reports on which to judge Leônidas as a player, and these were notoriously colourful in the pre-war years. Leônidas doesn’t appear to have been especially skilful – he left that to the more dilettante inside-forwards – but he was much the most purposeful and direct of the Brazilian forwards. Small for a striker, he compensated for lack of height with agility and speed, and was a notable chaser of lost causes, harrying defenders into mistakes. Some accounts claim he invented the bicycle kick – Leônidas himself among them – but the overhead kick was known for many years as a chilena in South America, which would back up claims that it was a manoeuvre pioneered in Chile. Whether he was the first or not, Leônidas’ ability to conjure attempts at goal from unpromising positions was a feature of his game.
Leônidas may not be as big a name as many of the Brazilian stars who came after him, but as the first Brazilian player to earn international acclaim and shine at a World Cup he was a torch-bearer for the likes of Didi, Pelé and Garrincha and deserves his place here.
WORLD CUP FINAL No.3
19 June 1938, Yves du Manoir, Colombes; 45,124
Referee: Georges Capdeville (France)
Coaches: Vittorio Pozzo (Italy) & Károly Dietz (Hungary)
Italy (2–3–5): Aldo Olivieri (Lucchese); Alfredo Foni (Juventus), Pietro Rava (Juventus); Pietro Serantoni (Roma), Michele Andreolo (Bologna), Ugo Locatelli (Inter); Amedeo Biavati (Bologna), Giuseppe Meazza (Inter), Silvio Piola (Lazio), Giovanni Ferrari (Inter), Gino Colaussi (Triestina)
Hungary (2–3–5): Antal Szabó (MTK); Sándor Biró (MTK), Gyula Polgár (Ferencváros); Antal Szalay (Ujpest), György Szücs (Ujpest), Gyula Lázár (Ferencváros); Ferenc Sas (MTK), Jenó Vincze (Ujpest), György Sárosi (Ferencváros), Gyula Zsengellér (Ujpest), Pál Titkos (MTK)
Italy were clear favourites. Four years previously they had beaten Czechoslovakia, exponents of the Central European school of possession football, and now they faced another in Hungary. Italy’s tactic was the same as in 1934: throw a wall in front of the Hungarians and invite them to pick their way through, put a man-marker (Andreolo) on the opposition’s best player (Sárosi) and get the ball to their wingers on the counter and have them exploit the space left by an old-fashioned midfield.
It worked. Twice in the first half counter-attacks down the right and a cross found the opposite winger, Colaussi, in absurd amounts of space to score at leisure. A neat triangular move allowed Piola the opportunity to belt another, and a half-time lead of 3–1 made the game nearly safe. Like all Central European teams, Hungary played at a prosaic pace; they liked to stroll in midfield and play short, measured passes, gaining ground in small increments – think Spain in 2010 in slo-mo. Italy, fit, fast and committed, refused them the time they craved and Hungary had no Plan B.
There was the briefest of hiccoughs in the second half when Sárosi lost his marker for once and tapped in a cross, but Italy never lost control and Piola restored their two-goal cushion towards the end. The crowd were unhappy, but any football follower among them knew deep down the best team had won the match and the tournament. There could be no grumbling about the twelfth man in the refereeing jersey this time. After their faltering start against Norway, Italy had improved with every game – a trait that has followed them down the years – and by the last two rounds were head and shoulders above any other team, not just in organisation but in pace, decision-making and fitness.
Mussolini and the Italian press crowed about the prime breeding stock that was Italian manhood, and the rise of fascism continued unabated. They would get their come-uppance, but not on the football field and at a more appalling cost than anyone could conceive – certainly not the British Prime Minister, who returned from Munich and a meeting with Hitler later that year clutching a symbolic straw that would taint his reputation forever. A very real and very cruel test of manhood was coming.
World Cup Heroes No.4
Giuseppe Meazza (1910–79)
Italy
Probably the best pre-war footballer and a true jazz-age gent. Born in Milan in 1910, Meazza was rejected (too small, how often have we heard that?) by Milan and ended up across the city at Inter where he quickly established himself, winning his first Serie A title and first cap in 1930. He scored twice for Italy on his debut against Switzerland and followed up with a hat-trick against Hungary later in the year.
Initially an out-and-out centre-forward, Meazza was skilful and strong and surprisingly adept in the air for a man of only about five foot seven. He was Serie A top scorer in that title-winning year and continued to hit the net regularly even after he converted to inside-forward. The prime mover behind the conversion was international manager Vittorio Pozzo, who wanted to accommodate both Meazza and the bustling Schiavio in his 1934 World Cup squad; it was Meazza, the more adaptable and skilful player and better passer of the ball who moved back a shade and allowed Schiavio to get in where it hurts and mix it up with the fullbacks. Meazza would later form a similar combination with Piola, setting up goals for the centre-forward and using the latter’s strength and hold-up play to move forward and take chances himself.
In 1940 Meazza did the unthinkable and moved from Inter to AC Milan. Even more surprisingly the Inter fans forgave him, perhaps swayed by stories that circulated that he cried in the dressing room after scoring for Milan against their rivals. When the famous San Siro stadium, home to both clubs, was renamed in 1980, it was Meazza’s name that was used, although most fans carried on calling it the San Siro and still do.
There is a lot of myth and legend surrounding Meazza’s private life, but he was certainly a playboy, and certainly beloved of the ladies, with his smooth, hawkish, unmistakably Italian features and slicked-back hair. Accounts exist of him receiving the 1938 World Cup from Mussolini as if he had just been for a stroll around a piazza and a coffee with his girlfriend, not played a full ninety minutes in a World Cup Final.
Meazza was a notoriously poor timekeeper and often appeared at the last minute for league matches, and he was too impatient for detailed tactical briefings; Pozzo compensated by briefing the other players instead, instructing them how to play around Meazza’s gifts and try to read his passes. “Having him on the team was like starting the game 1–0 up,” said Pozzo of his star.
Giuseppe Meazza scored over 250 goals for Inter and thirty-three for Italy in fifty-three matches, a record that stood until surpassed by Gigi Riva. Riva’s record of thirty-five still stands, a much lower figure than the record for most other major football nations – Italy have always made keeping them out rather than sticking them in their priority. Meazza was the first dual World Cup winner, and remained the only one until Brazil won in 1962 with most of the team that won in 1958.
1938 Team of the Tournament: 2–3–5
Olivieri (Italy)
Domingos (Brazil) Rava (Ita)
Szalay (Hungary) Andreolo (Italy) Martim Silveira (Brazil)
Abegglen (Switzerland) Sárosi (Hungary) Leônidas (Brazil) Meazza (Italy) Colau
ssi (Italy)
Leading scorers: Leônidas (7); Zsengellér, Sárosi, Piola (5)
Official team (chosen retrospectively): Plánicka (Czechoslovakia); Domingos (Brazil), Rava (Italy), Foni (Italy); Andreolo (Italy), Locatelli (Italy); Zsengellér (Hungary), Sárosi (Hungary), Leônidas (Brazil), Piola (Italy), Colaussi (Italy)
* Mario and Juan Evaristo became the first brothers to play in a World Cup Final.
* At the time Internazionale’s official name was AS Ambrosiana-Inter. At the insistence of their new President in 1929, the club changed its name to AS Ambrosiana, after the patron Saint of Milan. Two years later, after various protests from fans, the new compromise name was reached. The modern name of FC Internazionale Milano has been used since the Second World War. To supporters and pundits, the team has always been Inter.
* Puc remains Czechoslovakia’s all-time leading scorer with thirty-four goals in sixty games; Nejedly and Silny lie joint-third. Jan Koller and Milan Baros have both scored more for the Czech Republic, but both played over ninety games.
* Abegglen played for Sochaux in France, and one of his countrymen played for Le Havre. Kohut, the Hungarian forward, played for Marseille; these three were the only squad members from 1938 not playing club football in the country they represented. How things change.
* The Brazilian goalkeeper Algisto Lorenzato went by an adopted name in traditional Brazilian footballer style. The name he chose was Batatais – which is Portuguese for potatoes. (Thanks to Cris Freddi for this splendid piece of translation.) He was dropped after letting in five and his replacement, Walter, was the only other player who retained his place after the fisticuffs in Bordeaux.
POST-WAR
2.1 WORLD CUP 1950
Brazil was awarded the 1942 World Cup, but the event never happened, so it seemed only right they got the tournament in 1950, the first renewal after the war ended. Europe was still in the throes of reconstruction and repatriation and was ill-equipped to host such an extravaganza, though London had managed to produce an Olympic Games on a shoestring budget in 1948. Jules Rimet had been President of FIFA for twenty-five years (the anniversary was actually in 1956) and it was decided the trophy would carry his name to honour that landmark.
Qualifying
The organisation was a bit rough and ready and there was the usual rash of pre-tournament withdrawals. Argentina couldn’t be bothered, nor could Peru or Ecuador, so four South American teams qualified alongside Brazil without kicking a ball in anger. The same happened to India, but they in turn withdrew for a variety of reasons – a story circulated that it was because they were told they would have to wear boots to compete and were accustomed to playing barefoot. Indian sources have claimed FIFA reneged on a deal to cover all their expenses.
In the European qualification games two places were left open for British teams, based on results in the annual Home International series. England made a firm commitment but Scotland announced they would be unlikely to travel as runners-up of the local competition. Scotland started by hammering Northern Ireland 8–2; a striker with East Fife called Henry Miller Morris helped himself to a hat-trick and was never picked again – nice strike rate. Jackie Milburn netted a hat-trick as England won well in Cardiff and Manchester United’s Jack Rowley grabbed four as poor Northern Ireland were trounced again, 9–2 this time. It came down to the decider at Hampden; Scotland hit the bar, Chelsea’s Roy Bentley hit the back of the net. Scotland were true to their word and turned down their place in the Finals, despite pleas from the players, a gesture of utterly futile pride that typified the Scottish FA, an organisation that makes even their English counterparts look a bastion of common sense.
1950
BRAZIL
Six cities shared responsibility for hosting the tournament in this vast country.
Rio de Janeiro: Estádio do Maracanã
One of the most famous of all football stadiums, the Maracanã hosted the memorable 1950 final into which almost 200,000 people (officially – there were probably almost a quarter of a million) crammed to watch Uruguay beat Brazil.
São Paulo: Estádio do Pacaembu
Officially (since 1958) the Estádio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho (which is a bit of a mouthful even if you speak Portuguese), the Pacaembu was built in 1940. Current capacity is around 40,000, although 70,000 squeezed in for a match in the 1950s. It it is the home of the Corinthians.
Belo Horizonte: Estádio Sete de Setembro
The name comes from Brazil’s day of independence (7 September), and was the name of the now defunct club which played in Belo Horizonte, north and inland of Rio de Janeiro. Now officially the Raimundo Sampaio, the ground is still referred to colloquially as Independençia. It is the home ground of both América and Atlético Mineiro.
Curitiba: Estádio Durival Britto
This stadium is known to all as the Vila Capanema, holds 20,000 and was built in 1947 as one of the venues for the forthcoming World Cup.
Porto Alegre: Estádio dos Eucaliptos
Opened in 1931 in the southernmost of the venues used for the 1938 finals with a capacity of 20,000, Estádio dos Eucaliptos was closed in 1969 when it was superseded by the much bigger (56,000) Estádio Beira-Rio. Both grounds served as the home of SC Internacional, the city’s premier team.
Recife: Estádio Ilha do Retiro
Recife is in Pernambuco, much further up the coast from the other host cities in 1938. The Estádio Ilha do Retiro holds around 35,000 and was used for only one world cup match (Chile versus the USA) in 1950.
None of the countries behind the Iron Curtain entered, not even the losing finalists from 1934 and 1938, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Germany were disbarred, but Italy gained a place as the holders. Italy had much more sympathy than in the 1930s, having been rocked by an awful tragedy the previous year.
The Torino team was returning from a friendly match in Lisbon when their Italian Airlines plane hit some bad weather and crashed into a shrine on the side of a mountain near their home city. The entire team was wiped out. Torino were by some distance the best side in Italy at the time and were cruising to a fifth consecutive league title. The tragedy didn’t decimate the national squad, but it made a dent and it did enormous damage to the psyche of Italian football. Torino were forced to use their youth team to complete their fixtures; as a mark of respect all their opponents did the same and the fifth scudetto was secured. Scant consolation for family and friends and club, but a rare gesture of solidarity in a league synonymous with corruption and animosity.
When Turkey joined Scotland and withdrew after qualifying, FIFA looked around for replacements and invited Portugal and France, beaten in qualifying by Spain and Yugoslavia respectively. Portugal declined but France accepted and the draw was made. India then chimed in with their objections and France looked at the schedule and changed their mind. They had a point – there was no attempt made to coordinate the matches to limit teams’ travel across such a vast country.
Finals
FIFA were left with a lopsided draw, as France were drawn in the one group that had three teams rather than four. In a moment of obstinacy they decided to leave things as they were, with two groups of four, one of three and one containing only two sides. Go figure.
Brazil were many people’s favourites. They had just won the Copa América and handed out some heavy beatings in the pro cess. They put nine past Ecuador, ten past Bolivia, seven past Peru and five past a good Uruguay team. Their forward line was dazzling, their only problem being which ones to leave out. The “dream team” favoured by most pundits was the trio of Zizinho, Ademir and Jair.
Yugoslavia were as good as anyone in Europe, but found themselves in Brazil’s group; England and Spain would fight out the other four-team group, and surely even a weakened Italy would see off Sweden and Paraguay. Uruguay got a very long straw, with only a weak Bolivia team to beat – their biggest problem would be raising the intensity for the second phase, for here FIFA had made a change.
The wi
nners of the four groups were not being asked to play semi-finals but to form another round-robin group to decide the tournament winner. FIFA had gone from one extreme to another – the lottery of knockout rounds to no final at all. It had the potential to be a damp squib of a tournament.
The hosts opened up on 24 June at the Maracanã in Rio in front of over 80,000 fervent fans. The Maracanã was built with government money for just this occasion and was an awesome edifice, the work of four major architects. Like the Centenário in Montevideo in 1930, it was barely finished in time, but it was worth the weight, a steel and concrete tribute to the modern Brazil. The nationalist dictatorship of Gestulio Vargas may have fallen when he stepped down at the end of the Second World War, but he would have applauded the creation of this stadium, as fine an example of the new industrial Brazil he started to build, a symbol of Brazilian pride, not Portuguese- or Italian-influenced, but Brazilian.
GROUP 1
A twenty-one-gun salute greeted the players from Brazil and Mexico, and 5,000 pigeons were released into the air. When the smoke and the plaster dislodged from the newly built stands had drifted away, the players started the game on a pitch covered in guano. Reports suggest the Brazilians hit the woodwork maybe five or six times, but they also hit the net four times, despite the heroics of Antonio Carbajal in goal for Mexico for the first time. More of him anon. The Brazilians switched positions frequently, still trying to find the perfect formula in which to mix all that talent.